Eye-on-Retail Daily Tipsheet Archives

Five Below Q4 Comp Sales +3.6% “For fiscal 2016, net sales are expected to be in the range of $995 million to $1,005 million based on opening 85 new stores for the full year and assuming an approximate 3% increase in comparable store sales.”Read the release

Kroger names presidents for Roundy’s Wisconsin, Mariano’s by Melanie Lawder at Milwaukee Business Journal. “Michael Marx, Kroger’s vice president of people operations, will become president of Roundy’s Supermarkets, Wisconsin, starting April 1. Don Rosanova, Roundy’s executive vice president of operations, has been named president of Mariano’s, effective immediately.”Read more

Why Target Is Fast-Tracking Food Innovation by Elizabeth Segran at Fast Company. “Here’s a dirty little secret about the food business: An apple you pick up at your local supermarket is, on average, 14 months old. By the time you sink your teeth into it, it has lost most of its nutritional value. The thing is, most consumers are not aware of this. “People think they’re buying a healthy snack,” says Greg Shewmaker, an entrepreneur-in-residence at Target …”But year-old apples are the nutritional equivalent of a sugary ball of fiber; all the nutrients have already leached out.”Read more

Home Depot picks Google for cloud business by Sarah McBride at Reuters. “The deal, flagged Tuesday by Google executive Greg DeMichillie in a briefing and expected to be announced formally on Wednesday.”Read more

DON’T WORRY ABOUT US – Amazon Executive Undercuts Staples Claim of Competitive Threat by Andrew M. Harris at Bloomberg. “Prentis Wilson, a vice president with Amazon Business, testified Tuesday in federal court in Washington that the company has made only limited efforts to obtain such contracts from companies with more than $250 million in revenue and has won only one bid.”Read more

Costco Teams Up with Chevrolet for Special-Edition Silverado by Craig Cole at Auto Guide. “Hugh Milne, the Chevrolet Silverado marketing and advertising manager said, “This was literally Costco’s idea they came to us and said, ‘Hey, we would like to do something special with Silverado.’…Delivery of your shiny new Silverado could take up to 16 weeks”Read more

**A message from Man Dip – Sour cream is for sissies – Eat like a man! Sour cream is something you slap on a baked potato. It is NOT a dip. Man Dip uses real cream cheese loaded with chunks of meat and peppers to create dips that are rich and savory with just the right amount of kick. Protein rich – Gluten free – Served hot.See the five new flavors | Best new dairy products 2015 | Mandip.com. Retailers request samples at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net

Whole Foods executive Christina Minardi on innovating in N.Y.C., and a big risk in Brooklyn by Melissa Wylie at New York Business Journal. “What was the biggest risk of your career: About 11 years ago, Whole Foods Market purchased property in Brooklyn…we became the developers…It took us 10 years to get that store open…Our big investment in that store paid off. If it didn’t, you wouldn’t be talking to me right now.”Read the Q&A

Bloomberg: The German Chain That’s Beating Wal-Mart at Its Own Game by Shannon Pettypiece. “In a suburb of Detroit, Aldi’s in-house brand of pasta sauce was 50 percent less than Wal-Mart’s store brand, its pancake syrup was 20 percent less, and its black beans sold for 18 percent of Wal-Mart’s. Some fresh foods also sold for less, with avocados and ground sirloin about half the price of Wal-Mart’s — though Wal-Mart had better prices on onions and chicken breasts.”Read more

Why Online Retailers Are Flocking to Nordstrom by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “We think that Nordstrom’s high exposure to ‘MVP’ malls makes it the most attractive wholesale distribution partner for both emerging traditional and online-born brands that wish to expand their distribution to new markets,” Credit Suisse analyst Michael Exstein wrote in the note.”Read more

Canada: Low loonie among reasons retailers slow moving into Canada by Murray McNeill at Winnipeg Free Press. “However, Ken Yee, senior vice-president of the Winnipeg office of Cushman & Wakefield, said he knows of at least four U.S.-based retail chains — Marshall’s, Dollar Tree, Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Blaze (a quick-service pizza restaurant chain) — that are still pursuing expansion opportunities north of the border.”Read more

Brioni Announces Its Own Unconventional Hire by Elizabeth Paton at NY Times. “Justin O’Shea, former fashion director of the German e-commerce giant MyTheresa, has been appointed creative director at Brioni, the latest unorthodox hiring by a luxury brand as the sector strains for innovative approaches in an ever more competitive environment…He had joined MyTheresa, owned by Neiman Marcus, in 2011.”Read more

General Mills Profit Beats on Cost Cutting via Fox Business. “The company’s net sales fell 8 percent to $4 billion, falling for the third quarter in a row.”Read more

Guy whose last name is Michaels loses Michaels.ca to retailer by Andrew Allemann at Domain Name Wire. “After retaining the lawyer, he says that the retailer offered him $100,000 to drop everything and transfer the domain. He declined because the site received more than one million visitors per year.”Read more

MONEY TALKS – This Is Why Shares of Lumber Liquidators Are Surging by Lucinda Shen at Fortune. “Shares of Lumber Liquidators rose nearly 16% Tuesday after the company said it paid $2.5 million to settle a claim that it had sold laminate flooring containing formaldehyde that exceeded California state limits.”Read more

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Here is the full text of Amazon’s complaint against exec leaving for Target